Peripheral Angiography And Angioplasty

 Angioplasty is a procedure to open narrowed or blocked blood vessels that supply blood to your legs. It is also called peripheral angiography. Angiography uses x-rays and a special dye to see inside the arteries. Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart. 

Angioplasty and stent, a small, metal mesh tube that keeps the artery open, placement are two solutions for opening blocked peripheral arteries. Angioplasty involves using a medical “balloon”

To widen blocked arteries. The balloon presses against the inside wall of the artery to open the space and improve blood flow. A metal stent is usually placed across the artery wall to keep the artery from narrowing again. 

To treat blockage in your leg, angioplasty can be performed in the following:

• Aorta, the main artery that comes from your heart

• Artery in your hips and pelvis

• Artery in your thigh

• Artery behind your knee

• Artery in your lower leg

The procedure:

Before the procedure patients are usually given medicine to help them relax. They may also be provided with blood-thinning medicine to keep a blood clot from forming. 

You will be injected with local anesthesia prior to the doctor placing a tiny needle into the blood vessel in the patient’s groin. A tiny flexible wire will be inserted through this needle. 

This will allow the surgeon to see the patient’s arteries without the x-rays pictures. A wire would be guided through the catheter to the blockage. Another catheter with a small balloon on the end will be pushed over the guidewire and into the blocked area. The balloon is then filled with contrast fluid to inflate it. This opens the blocked vessel and restores blood flow to your heart.The procedure takes about 30 to 40 minutes.

Symptoms:

• Pain in your legs or arms

• Shiny skin on your legs or feet

• Hair loss on your legs

• Cold skin

• Gangrene, or dead tissue because of lack of blood flow

• Sores that won’t heal

• Numbness or weakness in your limbs

• Pain at rest

• Reddish-blue color in your extremities

• Thick, opaque toenails

• Trouble moving around

• Weak pulse in your leg or foot

 Things that increase the risk of peripheral artery disease include:

• Bruising, bleeding or tenderness at the area the artery was entered.

• Injury or damage to an artery caused by the thin tube (catheter) that’s inserted into your artery during the test.

• Blood clot at the location of the needle puncture.

• Some people may have allergic reactions to the dye used in the test.

• A family history of peripheral artery disease, heart disease or stroke.

• High blood pressure.

• High cholesterol.

• High levels of an amino acid called homocysteine, increase the risk for coronary artery disease.

• Increasing age.

• Obesity.

Angioplasty is a good option for you if you have symptoms that keep you from doing daily tasks, if your symptoms do not get better with other medical treatment, if you have skin ulcers or wounds on the leg that are not getting healed.

It is also helpful if you have an infection or gangrene on the leg and if you have pain caused by narrowed arteries, even when you are resting. 

Angioplasty improves artery blood flow for most people. Results may vary, depending on the location of the blockage, the size of your blood vessels and how much blockage there is in other arteries. 

This procedure also decreases the probability of having to use bypass surgery.

All said and done, you still should consult your doctor for the right solution.

Accounting for thorough experience and practice, Dr Aritra Konar is a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, Kolkata. He has been deemed one of the best cardiologists in Kolkata for his expertise lies in Coronary (femoral & radial routes) angiography, Coronary angioplasty (including primary angioplasty), Peripheral angiography and angioplasty, Permanent pacemaker, ICD, CRT implantation, BMV, BPV, Right heart catheterization and so on, in procedural skills. His guidance is trusted and so are his skills.